A mayoral candidate in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, canceled her final campaign event after a recording artist headlining her event received a series of threats believed to come from the Gulf Cartel.
This week, Leticia Salazar, a mayoral candidate for Matamoros, announced that her event was scheduled this week in the main plaza in Matamoros. The event had to be canceled due to threats against the recording artist Luis R. Conriquez, who was set to perform. Conriquez is a regional Mexican music artist who has reached international fame in recent years for his music about cartel violence and drug lords.
In her statement, Salazar claimed that the threats publicly confirmed an alliance between Mexico’s ruling MORENA party and “criminals.” While Salazar did not name the organization, the city of Matamoros is the birthplace of the Gulf Cartel, one of the leading criminal organizations in Mexico.
Several politicians called out the threats against Salazar’s events, claiming that it was an affront against public safety and should be investigated by authorities.
Salazar is a candidate for the PAN party and has joined forces with several other parties in an attempt to win against Alberto Granados Davila from Mexico’s ruling party, Morena. Breitbart Texas reported about the close ties that the Morena party in Matamoros has with the Gulf Cartel, including letting the criminal organization use city ambulances to covertly move a group of kidnapped U.S. citizens.
Salazar previously served as mayor from 2013 to 2016, during that time she created a local police force to clash against the Gulf Cartel and was the target of various attacks for her actions against the criminal organization.
Earlier this month, Salazar was forced to run for cover when she was doing a block-walking event, and a cartel shootout took place nearby in Matamoros, Breitbart Texas reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.